“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.” ― James Baldwin.
Washington DC – Tuesday, June 9th, 2020 in Houston, Texas crowds arrived for the funeral of George Floyd. In support of Mr. Floyd and Black Lives Matter (BLM), many members of the Sikh American community including Gurujodha Singh Khalsa, Ek Ong Kaar Kaur, SALDEF Regional Director Bobby Singh, and SALDEF Board Member Simran Singh attended Mr. Floyd’s viewing and funeral. The group completed an Ardas (Sikh prayer) in front of the Fountain of Praise Church where the event took place, and prayed for the protection of all people.
“The event was humbling and felt like a turning point of the African American struggle in the US,” said SALDEF Board member Simran Singh. “We took a knee at Mr. Floyd’s coffin to honor his ultimate sacrifice, and to acknowledge the countless horrifying abuses against our African American sisters and brothers over the last 400 years.” Mr. Singh noted that, “this month also marks the anniversary of Operation Bluestar and the Sikh genocide that followed. It is an auspicious time to stand up as Sikhs for every and all kinds of discrimination. I am thus humbled and proud to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Mr. Floyd’s death highlights systemic racism in America and his funeral marks the need for unity in the fight for fundamental change. We believe that it is time the Sikh American community step up and support all our brothers and sisters fighting for equality and justice. Thirty-six years ago this week, the Sikh community in India was attacked by the Indian government, which launched a military strike on the holiest of Sikh shrines, the Harmandir Sahib, in Amritsar, as well as 39 other Sikh historical religious sites. Following that attack, members of the Sikh community were systematically persecuted by the Indian government, and many Sikhs died at the hands of Indian law enforcement. We as a community cannot turn a blind eye to what is currently happening in America and we cannot stand idly by as our Black brothers and sisters continue to be singled out and oppressed by systemic issues in policing policy.
“This is a pivotal time in American history”, said SALDEF Executive Director Kiran Kaur Gill. “We cannot stand on the sidelines and watch, we must as a community rise up and stand in support of the Black Lives Matters Movement. We encourage community members to join us and take a stand to support the Black Lives Matter movement by combating racism in our own community.”
In support of the BLM movement, SALDEF commits to increasing our efforts to educate community members on recognizing and combating implicit bias and understanding systemic racism. We also commit to transforming policing through our Law Enforcement Partnership Program (LEPP) by reviewing and updating LEPP training with an eye towards addressing implicit bias, racial profiling and systemic racism in more depth.
SALDEF has signed on to a recent letter to congress that asks for immediate changes to a range of policing issues, including use of force, police accountability, racial profiling, militarization, data collection, and training. This letter was recently incorporated into the The Justice in Policing Act, introduced by Congressional Democrats. If passed, this bill will improve police training and practices, reform policing practices, improve transparency through better data on police misconduct and use-of-force, and hold the police accountable in the courts for violations.